I shut the door and stand with my back against it.
I look down.
Still there. Still very much present and aware of what almost happened. Enthusiastic about it, even. Which is deeply unhelpful.
I turn the shower on cold, stand under the sprays, and think about how Piper is five days out of the relationship she almost married into. She is completely off-limits to every part of me, including my treacherous dick. I have nine days left on this road trip with her, and a return to real life at the end of it. I’m going to be the friend she needs.
That’s the deal. That’s what I signed up for when I said, “Get in, runaway.”
The cold water is doing its level best, but then there’s a knock on the door.
“Griffin?”
I swear I almost groan. “In the shower!”
“I know! I can hear it.”
“Yep.”
“Are you—” A pause. “Are you okay?”
“Fine!” I call. “Completely fine! Great, even!”
Silence from the other side.
“You’re doing the voice,” she calls.
“I don’t have a voice.”
“You have several voices. That’s the something-is-wrong voice.”
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m having a shower. I’ll be out in five minutes.”
“Okay,” she says slowly. “I’ll get Gerald up.”
I blow out a breath when I hear her move away.
I need three things right now, in this specific order: this shower, a priest, and approximately five minutes alone to work this situation out of my system so I can look her in the eye across a diner table without my entire body giving me away.
I make two out of three work. It’s the best I can do.
When I finally come out, Piper is dressed and sitting on the end of the bed, Gerald in her lap, eating a granola bar she’s procured from somewhere.
She looks at me. I look at her.
“Ready?” I ask.
She chews the granola bar. “Ready.”
She looks very carefully at my face and nowhere else. Which means she’s thought about it. Which means I’m going to be spending the first hour of today’s drive thinking about the fact that she’s thought about it.
I pick up my keys and watch the keychain catch the light.
I clear my throat. “Let’s go.”
Gerald watches me from under Piper’s arm with his far-apart, all-knowing eyes. I’m almost certain he saw everything.
Say nothing, I tell him silently.
